Thinking for Ourselves
by LouiseKurylo
Summary: Jane killed Timothy Carter thinking he was Red John. Jane was wrong. How far should Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt go in supporting Jane's quest before they inadvertently facilitate another mistaken murder? And is their commitment to help Jane matched by a commitment by Jane to them?


**Who:** Cho, Rigsby, Van Pelt

**What:** How far do they go to support Jane's quest for Red John?

**When:** After Jane killed Timothy Carter

**Where:** The CBI bullpen

**Why:** What if Jane gets it wrong...again?

* * *

What are the boundaries in supporting Jane's hunt for Red John? What if Jane gets it wrong? It's a fine line between hunting a despicable killer and inadvertently facilitating murder by Jane. How careful is Jane in getting it right? And is the support a two-way street? What's Jane's commitment to them?

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Question**

"Hey, Cho," Rigsby called. "I cleaned out my desk. Here's the disk of the mall security recording when Jane shot Timothy Carter. It's not part of the official file. Should I toss it?"

"Sure," Cho answered absently. "No, wait!"

"Why?"

Cho answered in a low voice only Rigsby could hear. "Jane was acquitted for killing Carter aka Red John. But the Panzer murder sure as hell looks like Red John. I don't give a crap about Carter‑‑he was a predator. But what if Jane_ didn't_ have good reason to believe he was Red John?"

"You think so?

"We're following Jane blind a lot of the time. I want to know for sure."

"I looked at more of the recording. Jane spent _ten minutes_ talking with Carter–enough time to check him out. Should we ask Jane?"

"Nah. He either said it straight at the trial. Or, he'd lie and we'd never be able to tell."

"That's the problem, isn't it? Wish there was audio."

"Huh," Cho said, thinking. "As I recall, the visual resolution is pretty good. I have a deaf friend who lip reads as well as we hear. Maybe he could tell us what they said."

"Do you remember? There were _two_ cameras–two different views. Maybe he can get both sides of that conversation."

"Give me the disk. I'll call in a favor with him."

"We missed this when we were trying to clear Jane."

"Lip reading wouldn't stand up in court."

"Yeah, but we would have had a better handle on what happened."

"Let's find out what we can now. I still want to know how careful Jane was before he killed Carter."

"Will your friend keep his mouth shut? It'll really hit the fan if reporters hear Jane killed the wrong guy."

"The deaf community is tight. They keep to themselves. He'll keep it quiet if I ask."

* * *

**Chapter 2: Their Answer**

Cho had his answer a week later. Everyone else was out of the office except Rigsby.

"My friend got most of Jane's conversation with Carter," Cho said, handing a typewritten transcript to Rigsby. "Jane laid it out straight. He had every reason to believe Carter was Red John."

'That's a relief. So Jane _didn't_ know till after he killed him?"

"Yeah. The mall security guy Deutsch switched cell phones, took the gun off Carter and was murdered for his trouble. Who would engineer that except Red John? I bet that's how Jane figured it out. Then Jane got Panzer to trash Red John on air. Voila. Red John kills Panzer, who Jane figured was the San Joaquin serial killer."

"So where does that leave us?"

"Jane's secretive. I don't like it, but I know why. Red John has friends in the CBI, FBI, and some PD's too. If you don't know who to trust? You tell no one."

"Us, too? You think Jane doesn't trust us?

"Jane trusts us - Lisbon, you, me, Van Pelt. Hell, he'd have been killed a half-dozen times if we didn't protect him," Cho responded. "But Jane once told me the way to keep a secret is to keep it secret. Jane's afraid we'll let stuff slip without knowing it's important."

"Red John is hunting us, too. O'Laughlin, proves that," Rigsby added, extending Cho's analysis. "Even when it's not Red John, the politics are fierce. That Darcy FBI agent is gunning for Jane. But she can't get anything out of us if we don't have the information."

"Rigsby, who do you trust?"

"Other than you? Lisbon. Grace, too, except she got it wrong about O'Laughlin."

"Yeah. Lisbon's solid."

"Does Lisbon trust Jane?"

"She trusts him, but knows he doesn't tell her everything."

Rigsby got up and paced a few steps. "Jane is absolutely committed to getting Red John, right?"

"Yeah," Cho agreed. "So?"

"What if it's a choice between Red John and Lisbon? What does he choose?"

"We already know. Jane was counting on Dumar to lead him to Red John. Even so, Jane killed Dumar when he threatened Lisbon. Lisbon trumps Red John."

Still pacing, "What if it was one of us?" Rigsby asked, unwilling to dodge the hardest question.

Van Pelt stepped into the room, back early from a dental appointment. "Hi, guys. One of us what?"

"Uh, we were just shooting the breeze," Rigsby lied. Cho rolled his eyes at how bad a liar Rigsby was when Van Pelt was involved.

She put her purse into her desk drawer and looked hard at Rigsby. "Wayne, Cho. Whatever you were talking about had to do with CBI business–with us. I know I screwed up trusting O'Laughlin. I'll never be that naive again. But either I'm a full-fledged member of this unit, or tell me to my face I'm not cutting it."

Rigsby exchanged glances with Cho. Cho answered, "Okay. We were figuring out where we stand with Jane."

"What do you mean?"

"He's secretive. How far out on a limb do we go to keep supporting him?"

"So what are you asking, 'What if it was one of us?'" she pressed.

Rigsby clarified, "What if Jane had to choose between Red John and us?"

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I think he'd choose us, just like with Lisbon," Cho answered.

"You'd stake your life on it?" demanded Rigsby.

"Yeah, I would. Jane isn't a cop, but he is absolutely loyal to his friends. It's nine years and counting since he's been trying to avenge his family. He was really ripped up over Kristina Frye. She brought it on herself and he didn't even know her that well. His conscience can't take anything more."

Van Pelt weighed in. "I agree. Jane tried to protect me when Hollenbeck came to kill him. There was something else, though, wasn't there?"

Rigsby answered, "Jane killed Timothy Carter who he said was Red John. But the Panzer murder looks like Red John did it. We were wondering if Jane had good reason to think Carter was Red John."

"Wayne, is that why you were looking at that mall security disk a couple of weeks ago?"

"Uh-huh. Cho's deaf friend was able to make out Jane's conversation with Carter. Jane told it straight at the trial. Here's the transcript if you want."

"So what's the issue? Jane is after Red John and we help him."

"What about our careers? I have a kid to raise now," Rigsby responded.

"I care about career as much as anyone. But after O'Laughlin, Red John is personal. What's it say if we back off a case because it's hard or there's politics?" Van Pelt challenged.

Cho answered Rigsby, "Lisbon's kept us in CBI's good graces. She even manages to square Jane with CBI. I bet she keeps doing it."

"So we keep going along with Jane, stumbling around in the dark?" Rigsby asked, uneasy.

Van Pelt frowned. "Hey. Last time I checked, Jane is a civilian. From what you two tell me he had to trick his way into getting the files. Since when is Red John Jane's responsibility? Guess I missed the memo excusing us from catching this killer."

Silence.

Cho finally said, "Good point. If we don't help Jane, what's plan B? Red John isn't going to be caught by-the-book. Jane brings talent to the hunt no one else has. We fill CBI's role, plus we're used to working with him."

Rigsby added, "It scares the hell out of me that we can't trust the bureaus to be clean. Look what happened to Bosco's team! This is way above my pay grade."

"Red John's killed over 30 people and who knows how many more through his friends," added Van Pelt. "What's it mean to be a cop if we don't keep after him?"

After a minute, Cho voiced the consensus. "Looks like we don't have a choice. I don't want to be sitting here a few years from now with Jane dead and Red John still out there. Jane needs our help and is worth the headaches if we ever hope to get Red John."


End file.
